Former Spartan Field Hockey Player Honored By NCAA
10/25/1999 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 25, 1999
Indianapolis, IN - Former Michigan State field hockey player Melissa Pryor (1995-99) was honored as the state of Michigan NCAA Woman of the Year award winner at a banquet in Indianapolis, Ind., on Sunday, Oct. 24. Pryor is the first-ever MSU student-athlete to earn state of Michigan NCAA Woman of the Year honors.
Pryor was one of 51 state-level winners (including the District of Columbia) for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. The annual award honors outstanding female student-athletes from NCAA institutions who have excelled in the collegiate environment beyond their athletics pursuits with academic achievements and community involvement. Jamila Demby of the University of California-Davis was named the overall NCAA Woman of the Year winner.
Pryor earned Third-Team All-America honors as a senior in 1998. A three-year starter for the Spartans, she started 64 of 77 games during her career as a defender. A First-Team All-Big Ten and all-region honoree in 1998, she played every minute of every game in her final season.
The Ann Arbor native graduated from the Honors College with highest honors in May of 1999. She had a grade-point average of 3.76, earning a degree in social relations. Pryor, who was awarded an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship through the Minority Enhancement Program, is currently attending law school at Yale.
?I am very proud and honored to be recognized by the NCAA,? Pryor said. ?It came as a complete surprise, but I am glad that my hard work during my four years at Michigan State was appreciated. I had a great experience at MSU and am proud to be a Spartan.?
Off the field, Pryor was a valuable member of the MSU community. A team co-captain in 1998, Melissa helped start the Dubois Society at MSU, a support/social group for minority students in the James Madison College. She also participated in a minority phone-a-thon every semester, calling prospective MSU students and helping to answer questions about the University experience.
She was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was a Peer Counselor. A member of the Varsity S Club, she assisted at the Special Olympics, worked the Varsity Alumni Golf Outing, worked a 5K run for MSU SafePlace (a shelter for abused women) and helped to arrange a ?pet visit? to a retirement center. Pryor also frequently went to local elementary schools for reading days.
